Most mystery shoppers print out their mystery shop assignment’s guidelines and report questionnaire to make completion of an assignment easier. Printing out the guidelines and questionnaire allows you to read the fine print more carefully, as well as to take the info with you and review before you walk into the assignment location. After you complete your assignment, however, you may be tempted to toss your papers in the recycle bin and call it a day. Don’t! Here’s what you need to know about assignment paperwork:
For Your Payment. You may be tempted to de-clutter your desk and rely on the mystery shop provider’s website as proof of the job you have completed. If there is ever a problem getting payment on an assignment, you can always refer back to the website to access your paperwork, receipt, and other required documentation, right? Possibly, but not always. It’s a good rule of thumb to keep your own records, rather than rely on someone else to keep them for you.
Keep your own copy of the receipt, guidelines, and a hard copy of your final report. If you don’t want to keep all of this paperwork actually printed out and floating around on your desk, you can develop a filing system on your computer and simply click “Print to File” to get a digital version of your paperwork saved on your own computer. If you opt for the digital version, be sure to do a computer back up regularly to avoid losing valuable data if your system crashes.
For Your Taxes. The IRS will tell you to keep copies of your filed tax returns as well as all supporting documentation for seven years. A smart accountant will tell you to keep copies for ten years to be on the safe side. In the event you are audited, you need to have the supporting documentation to justify not only your claimed income, but also your write-offs. As a mystery shopper, you likely are keeping track of all of your business-related expenses, including required purchases and travel expenses. Your assignment paperwork not only serves to support your claimed income, but provides proof of legitimate travel and other business-related expenses.
Organize Your Paperwork. You can keep hard or soft copies of your paperwork, depending on which method is most convenient for you. Regardless of how your store your paperwork, eventually you will get lost in a massive amount of files and papers if you aren’t organized.
If you store your files on your computer, first set up annual folders. Inside each year’s folders, you can create subfolders for either the providers you work with, or for the month the assignment was completed. Which method you choose is going to be dependent on the number of assignments you complete and the number of providers you work with. In the current year’s folders, you may want to create a first layer of folders for “Paid” and “Unpaid” assignments. Then, inside the Paid folder, you can subdivide based on months or providers, as you’ve done for prior years. This will help to keep you organized on which providers still owe you money. If there is a problem with payment on an assignment, you can easily and quickly access the appropriate paperwork.
If you store your files in a file cabinet, you will want to invest in both manila folders as well as larger hanging folders. Use the larger hanging folders to keep the paperwork divided by years. Then inside each hanging folder for each year, use the manila folders to subdivide by providers or months the assignments were completed. Again, for the current year, dividing your paperwork between paid and unpaid assignments will help to keep you organized.
The trick to keeping yourself truly organized is to file the paperwork away as you go. It may be tempting to keep a stack of paper on your desk in the “To Be Filed” corner of your desk, but it’s best to avoid this urge. Taking an extra minute or two to file the paperwork as you go will keep your desk clean and the paperwork where it belongs.
Paperwork is probably the most unpopular aspect of mystery shopping. But you can get a handle on your paperwork with some simple organizational techniques, ensuring the paperwork is where you can find it in the event you need it down the road.
Thanks for this article! I need all the imput I can get on organization, especially when it comes to the computer storage side. I’m still learning about how to utilize the computer’s potential after 10 years of using one. Also, you are right on the money with the comment about the “To Be Filed” corner of the desk. I keep telling myself I won’t do that anymore, yet as I look right now, there it is, nearly a foot high. Thanks for the wake up call and helpful information.
I use a 3 ring binder to help keep track of current assignments and other info I may need while out and about. It includes a list of all providers with my login information (in case I have to use a computer other than my own), a section divided by the days of the week, with assignments filed on the correct day and a payment chart I keep up with manually. This includes the provider, client, amount, when expected and method of payment – I highlight it when it has been paid. I also find it handy to print a master copy report questionnaire for the shops I do frequently. I can record all the necessary data on one sheet & save TONS of paper that way.
I have just started out & still need to devise a good plan for my expenses – but I’m putting it off until 2009. 🙂
Happy Holidays!
I keep a large manilla envelope standing next to my computer/moniter…all business related purchases go in there unless they are part of a store shop required purchase. I simply staple those to the work report and keep them on file. I started keeping a small notebook on the dash to record all mileage as it happens, noting the date, company shop was for and the start and finish mileage.
Thank you so much for this advice on the hard and soft copies. Organization is something I am still working on.
I did buy a file folder and labeled it with companies I work for frequently, this I carry with me, if the questionare is still the same (I always check this) I too just go by the master copy, not only saving paper, but ink also.
When the company pays me it is put into a main file.
Happy Holidays to all.
I have a free officelive.com account with Microsoft. For each job, I have a Workspace set up and titled with the date in front of the business name_location. The description area is where I put the shopping company’s name. I save a copy of the guidelines, a scan of my notes and a copy of the completed survey. Since I scan most of my receipts and other “collateral” I add those to this electronic file as well. The only hard copies I keep are the original receipts, business cards, etc. and I keep them in an accordion file with the date, job number and shopping company on a sticky note. It works really well. Periodically, I will purge the older workspaces.
I take all my work product. I put it into a manila envelope, tape it with the date. I do this once a month and hope that I never have to see it again.
In reality, I keep a journal of all my miles. My accountant says that on meal shops, since I did not want to eat that meal, they are deductable. The pay is taxable, the miles and the meals are deductable. We are like high priced executives with our paperwork but paid like slaves.
You change the way you do the Mystery Shopping Assignmaent becaused I haven’t been getting any assignments from you. My Number is 406-853-0162